


Beyond the veil

by syusuke



Category: Naruto
Genre: Assumed Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, M/M, Senju Tobirama Needs a Hug, Supportive Hatake Kakashi, Tobirama gets cuddles, Uhei is the cuddliest ninken ever and you can't change my mind, a bit of doggo cuddles, it's a genjutsu though, time traveler Tobirama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:54:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22318171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syusuke/pseuds/syusuke
Summary: Kakashi has a lazy morning, reading his book in bed. When without a warning Tobirama hiraishins home and just plops down on him.Something is definitely wrong here.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Senju Tobirama
Comments: 9
Kudos: 169





	Beyond the veil

„You. Me. Cuddles. Now.“

Kakashi just barely managed to move his book out of the way, before his boyfriend flopped onto him. He struggled to breathe for a moment, but instead of pushing Tobirama off, he started petting his hair. It was rare for him to demand affection. Usually Tobirama had to be coaxed into cuddles, but he made a pretty comfortable pillow when rearranging them in a way that his heavier frame wouldn’t smother Kakashi. The man was constantely aware of his size and no matter how often Kakashi told him not to worry so much about it, he was still afraid of hurting him. A reasonable fear in their profession, made worse by their shared tendency to hide injuries and overwork themselves. It was still annoying whenever Tobirama treated him like a fragile thing, instead of the deadly shinobi he was. He couldn’t help but laugh at the image Tobirama made now.

“Not that I don’t want you in bed with me, but what happened? I thought you went to the lab.”

Tobirama shushed him. He was sprawled vertically across their bed, his upper body still a heavy weight on Kakashi and his head pressed into the curve of his partner’s neck. He hummed happily at the fingers carding through his hair, not willing to think about anything else.

“You know the dogs will come running as soon as they pick up your scent. Do you want me to send them away?”

The following grumble was incomprehensible. Kakashi simply hugged him closer, one hand lazily trailing across his spine. He could savour this moment and look for the catch later. It took just about a minute before he could hear approaching paws and excited yelps. Tobirama must have sensed them too, because he curled himself around Kakashi, implicitly giving the dogs permission to join their cuddle.

Obviously, Uhei was the first to jump onto the bed. He was nudging Tobirama’s side to get in between them, but quickly reconsidered when he got a sharp _‘no’_ for his efforts. Uhei loved Tobirama, maybe even more than Kakashi. Being denied his favourite spot, he settled for stretching out across Tobirama’s back, resting his head against the human’s neck, well aware that he might get some scratches from Kakashi if he was in easy reach.

Kakashi greeted each dog with small pets and scratches while Tobirama stubbornly refused to move. He grumbled every so often when the dogs tried to snuggle even closer, but was easily placated with a peck and fingers returning to his hair. It made for a peaceful couple of minutes, tempting Kakashi to pick up his book again and patiently wait for Tobirama to start talking whenever he was ready.

When Urushi approached them, Kakashi couldn’t suppress a smile at the sour expression. Reading was out of the question then.

“Half the village crowds the streets searching for him. Apparently, he disappeared in the middle of an experiment and everyone is worried. Let him clear up the mess, before you pamper him.”

Urushi barked at the other ninken in the cuddle pile and although reluctantly they all followed him when he left the bedroom. Kakashi couldn’t see where they went, but he would bet a lot that Urushi set up a guarding schedule covering every window and the front door. They would alarm him, if anyone actually tried to get in. Not that there was a big risk of that. The villagers knew how much Kakashi and Tobirama treasured their privacy, the shinobi feared the two men, the civilians avoided the dogs. It worked perfectly. The only one insane enough to barge into their home without announcing himself would be... Well, in another time it would have been Hashirama.

The whole time line thing was strange and anyone else would have been confused and possibly overwhelmed, but Tobirama had acclimated quickly. When they had found him, he had been the one to explain the situation and demand a meeting with the hokage. Tsunade had diffused the situation quickly, confirming beyond a shred of a doubt that he was indeed her uncle Tobirama Senju and Tobirama himself had done whatever necessary to prove his allegiance to the Leaf. Tsunade had not expected Kakashi to switch from unwilling babysitter to very willing partner, but she had not commented on it and neither had the rest of the village. Shinobi didn’t have a long enough life expectancy to be picky about their partners. Love was treasured, not always understood, but accepted in all its forms.

“Love? What happened? Are you okay?”

This time Kakashi did not accept silence. He slipped out under Tobirama and sat up. Apparently, Tobirama was entirely unwilling to lose the contact and instead hugged Kakashi’s legs, resting his head in his partner’s lap.

“Look at me, you stubborn ass.”

Tobirama decidedly did not look at him. He kept hugging Kakashi’s legs close, not reacting to the fingers poking at his side. But he also knew he owed him an explanation.

“It was about genjutsu and how it affects the brain. I had your students help me, but I didn’t expect the repercussions. Physically, I’m fine.”

Kakashi took one of Tobirama’s hands in his, moving his head ever so slightly with the other one. Just enough to see his expression. There was dried blood under Tobirama’s nails and now that he could take a proper look at his face, he could see the chewed up bottom lip. It wasn’t anything serious, but he knew how his partner dealt with intense emotion. He bit his lip and he dug his fingers into his palms until he broke the skin, he very rarely gave any vocal indication of unease. He had been taught to hide his pain from a very young age and a lifetime of war and fighting for survival didn’t help on that front. Not that Kakashi would blame him. He had his own trauma that sometimes caught up with him. He wasn’t angry or disappointed. He just wanted to help ease the suspense that was still weighing on Tobirama.

“I could have done the genjutsu for you. I know you best. I would have stopped earlier.”

Tobirama shuddered. He shook his head in utter disbelief.

“No. I could never ask that of you. It had to be intense. The Uchiha showed me my worst nightmare.”

“I died.”

Tense silence hung in the room. Tobirama tried to pull his hand away, but stopped when Kakashi held on. He took a deep breath before he took a proper hold of Kakashi’s hand himself and brought it down to his head, resting it against his cheek.

“I killed you...”

“It wasn’t real. You would never hurt me.”

Tobirama twitched. He turned his head just enough to place a kiss on Kakashi’s knuckles.

“I was resurrected by Edo Tensei and I saw everything happen, but I had no control. My own jutsu and I couldn’t do anything. I know every detail, every weakness and still I was powerless. I attacked you and.. you didn’t fight back. You said I could never hurt you... and then I did.”

They were shinobi. Both of them knew dozens of jutsus and they knew that mind-control was a possibility, if not that there were still transformation jutsus and illusions. Being attacked by a loved one... If anyone were to torture captives, to interrogate them... Genjutsu would be a good guess and they both had valuable intel on the village, including security details. This scenario was exactly the reason why relationships between high-profile shinobi were discouraged.

“I would fight back. Tobirama. _I would fight back._ ”

Kakashi tightened his grip and snuck his other hand into Tobirama’s hair. He waited for a reaction. Anything. A whisper, a tremble, the slightest movement from the man awkwardly draped across his legs. He gently carded his fingers through short hair. The silence was unsettling. Tobirama might not be physically hurt, he just took a huge mental blow though. His worst nightmare brought to life and whatever they planned for the experiment, something went wrong. Something went out of control and Tobirama was shaken. Seemingly lost in his mind.

“Come up here, love.”

Kakashi took his time. He pulled his partner up, placing butterfly kisses on his fingers, absolving him of whatever damage he dealt in the genjutsu. Tobirama pulled his hand back, he tried to move away. It was barely a half-hearted attempt, quickly aborted when Kakashi dropped his hands to his waist, holding him gently. Then he started tracing up the column of his neck, following his jawline, until finally he pulled down his half-mask to pull Tobirama into a deep long kiss. When they parted for air, Tobirama’s eyes were closed and Kakashi kissed the eyelids too, trying to chase away the images. He felt hands slipping into his own hair, refusing to let him move away. He didn’t say a word when a single tear escaped, but kissed it away. Hiding any evidence that the great Tobirama Senju, the cold-hearted genius, was still a hundred percent human.

This was fine.

They were fine.

It didn’t matter that Tobirama could not ask for the affirmations he needed.

Kakashi could read his gestures and he would not lose another loved one.

**Author's Note:**

> I read a list of fluffy story prompts..  
> Me being me couldn't just write fluff, but had to turn it into hurt/comfort.
> 
> Those two together are just so... strong and broken and stubborn.. and really good for each other I think.
> 
> The prompt was simply: „You. Me. Cuddles. Now.“  
> So if anyone wants to use it to write actual fluff. Have fun. ^^


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